In Love With A Shadow
by lil-hermione-at-heart
Summary: Harry has been chasing Voldemort all across Europe, trying to bring it all to an end, but he left Hermione and Ron behind. Now, three years later, Hermione has moved on with her life, along with all the others. But what happens when Harry's life ends and every one really has to accept that he won't be coming home?


**In Love with a Shadow**

She screamed as the television told the latest news, glass scattering across the floor. Falling to her knees as a tear slowly fell down her cheek, she tried to sweep up the glass from the crystal pitcher she dropped on the ground. A small scream escaped her mouth as she jerked her hand back to reveal a long crimson gash across her palm. Another tear leaked down her cheek as she leaned back against the refrigerator.

Pounding footsteps came storming down the hall and skidded to a halt when they reached the kitchen.

"Oh my god, what happened?"

A man fell to his knees beside her and through her tears, he looked exactly like Harry. She almost flinched away when he reached out to her but she reminded herself that he wasn't who she thought he was.

She let him pull her towards himself as he picked her up and carried her to the living room where he set her on the couch while he pulled out his wand to clean up the broken glass.

She curled herself into a ball, pulling her knees as close to her chest as she could. More tears fell down her cheeks as quiet sobs passed through her lips. She bawled more as a memory flashed passed her mind's eye.

It was the end of her second year at Hogwarts. She had only just woken up from being petrified and the first thing that came to her mind was, _"I've got to see Harry."_

She ran all the way to the Great Hall where she heard voices talking amiably. She slowed down and came to a stop when she got to the door. Nearly-headless Nick was floating passed and had said something quickly to her. She shot back a "Thanks Sir Nicolas" then continued scanning the Gryffindor table for Harry.

She found the head covered with flame red hair poking out of the crowd as he leaned back to see her, and just behind him was Harry. A grin broke out across her face as she took of running towards him. She launched herself into his arms as he hugged her so tight, both of them smiling from ear to ear.

That was when she knew she loved Harry.

She started crying harder as she hugged her knees to her chest. The blurry Harry look-a-like was kneeling in front of her trying to comfort her. "Shhhh, it's ok. I cleaned it all up. Let me see your hand."

She let him pull her hand towards him as he stitched it up with a quick spell.

When everyone had settled on the fact that Harry wasn't coming home, she had decided that it was time to move on with her life. So she went into medicine and became a nurse at St. Mungo's. It was there that she met this Harry replacement. She jumped when she first saw him walking down the bright white hall at the hospital because of how much he looked like Harry, but the dull brown eyes gave him away.

They became friends, her and Blaine, and started talking more and more. The more they got to know each other, the more Hermione would realize how much like Harry he was; it was like he was a shadow of her best friend. Hermione genuinely liked him. They got closer and eventually Hermione let him in and on the third time he asked her out, she said yes. They've been dating for seven months now and he had started moving in to her flat. There were even days that she thought she loved him.

She let him pull her into his lap as he sat on the couch next to her. "Are you alright?" he asked as soon as the tears stopped.

She nodded her head a little as she sat up. "I'm fine, the news just…" She couldn't finish her sentence, she just pointed to the television.

They both looked up to see the news woman continuing on with a story about an explosion that had occurred in a forest just outside of Godric's Hollow. Several bodies were found along with the body of a man whose face looked like a snake and a young man with a lightning bolt scar.

She had accepted that Harry might never come home, but knowing that he was actually dead had shot through her like an arrow through her heart.

She stood up and said, "I'm sorry but I need to be alone. I'll see you tomorrow." Then she took off into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Hermione didn't go to work the next day or the next. Ron came by her apartment the next day to check on her, see if she had seen the news. When he was greeted with a tear-stained face and a "get out of my apartment", he figured she knew.

Blaine came by a day after Ron did, brought her some food and a movie. She let him feed her some food as they watched the movie, even let him pull her close. His comfort was just something that she needed right now. When the movie was over, she asked Blaine if he could just give her some time to get over the loss of her friend, to which he responded that she could have all the time she wanted and to just call him if she needed him.

Ron came back two weeks later, this time bringing Ginny, Hermione answered the door looking like she hadn't eaten since she'd heard the news. They went inside and tried to make small conversation as Ginny cooked something up for dinner. They sat around the table in silence as Hermione slowing picked at her food.

"You need to eat something," Ginny whispered.

"But I just can't," Hermione said, equally as quiet.

Ginny gave Ron a "give us a minute" look then scooted her chair closer to Hermione as Ron went into the kitchen to clean up.

"Hermione, we all knew that final fight was going to happen sooner or later, and we knew that there was a chance that he wouldn't make it. I'm not saying it's bad to mourn, but you can't slowly tear yourself apart because of it. I know you'll miss him, we all will. But there comes a time to move on."

Hermione just hung her head as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. Ginny rubbed her back a bit, then picked up the plates and went to help Ron clean up the kitchen.

Hermione continued to sit there in silent sobs as the Weasleys cleaned up and headed home with a quick "we'll come check on you tomorrow". She finally moved a while after they left from the table to her bed, not even bothering to change clothes. There she finally gave herself over to the tears that she had been trying to push back.

The next day she called Blaine and asked if he wanted to come over for dinner. After agreeing to eat at seven that evening, she slowly worked her way around her apartment, cleaning and dusting. She came across a picture of her, Ron and Harry during their fourth year at Hogwarts. It was at just before the last task so they had no clue that soon Voldemort would return and slowly tear apart their lives.

She starred at the picture and, as she remembered all their great times, she realized that she would always love Harry, but it was time to let him go.

That night, she and Blaine would have a great dinner. They'd settle on him officially moving into her flat and selling his old small one. The following week, after Blaine was completely moved in, they'd go to the Weasley's for a family dinner.

Over the course of the next few months, Hermione found herself falling in love with Blaine. But she couldn't help the fact that every time she looked at him, she saw Harry staring back at her. Her heart would ache every time she thought of him and their past, but the love she felt for Blaine would always bring her back.

On their one year and one month anniversary, Blaine would propose. Hermione would say yes and jump into his arms as he swung her around with excitement. They'd tell the Weasley's at the next family dinner and Molly would go crazy with wedding details as Ginny would try to step in to make sure it didn't get to out of hand. Blaine would ask Ron to be his best man and Hermione would ask Ginny to be her maid of honor. Then in honor of Harry, they had a candle standing next to Ron at the ceremony.

As time went on, love would grow. Ron would fall in love with Luna and Ginny would fall for Neville. Their families would grow and kids filled the yard at family dinners and jobs would progress. But no matter how good life was to Hermione, she would still think of Harry. She'd still see his face smiling back at her like a shadow when she looked at Blaine; she'd still think of the great times they had whenever she and Ron would talk; and she'd always hold her love for him even though he wasn't there with her anymore. She'd always be in love with a shadow.


End file.
